The Japanese black bear is one of large terrestrial mammals and represents eco-system of broad-leaved forests such as beeches and oaks. The bear population tends to decline from western area of Japan due to land development by human and over-hunting so that there are sub-populations that face to crisis of extinction. On the other hand, the Japanese black bear inhabits Shirakawa Vileage, Gifu Prefecture where the wild environment is maintained relatively much, and bears shows natural behavior. Therefore, the Shirakawa Village is one of the most suitable place to evaluate the habitat environment of the Japanese black bear.
The purpose of this study is to clarify a part of ecology of the Japanese black bear and to evaluate natural environment as their habitat in Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture. The ultimate aim of the study is to resolve what is the environment that the bear can continue to live healthily and to suggest the tactics for conservation of nature with bear living. The following study will be performed:

1. Ecological studies by field works such as radiotracking
   Bears will be captured by barrel traps which are setted in Shirakawa Village. The bears captured should be immobilized using drugs and handled for measuring body sizes, sampling some materials and fitting radio-collars, followed by releasing. The bears should be tracked with antennas and receivers and the works should be continued by time of beginning of hibernation.
2. Evaluation of habitat environment using GIS system
   The data on annual home range and land use, which will be obtained by the radiotracking studies, will be analyzed for habitat use using GIS system. Especially, it should be recognized which type of forests is necessary for Japanese black bears from the analysis of the association between bear behavior and vegetation type of their habitat.
3. Studies on relationship between nutrition and reproduction of bears and establishment of technique for artificial breeding under captivity
   Endocrinological and physiological studies on effects of nutrition on reproduction will be performed in captive Japanese black bears of Ani Mataginosato Bear Park, Akita Prefecture. Some bears should be employed for sampling once a month to obtain the data of body fat rate, concentrations of leptin mRNA in adipose tissue and leptin and sex hormone in blood.

A basic study on cryopreservation of semen and artificial breeding will be also performed to prepare the technical establishment for the future conservation of wild Japanese black bears. The method of electroejaculation and cryopreservation of semen should be improved in male bears and artificial insemination will be performed actually using the frozen-thawed semen to estrus-determined female bears.

Two local populations of Japanese black bears exist (Selenarctos thibetanus japonicus) in Iwate Prefecture: Kitakami and Kita-Ou local populations. Of these, particularly the Kitakami highlands local population is isolated from other mountain systems. There, damage by bears including human injury has occurred frequently in recent years. In addition, many bears are killed every year, strongly threatening the maintenance of this isolated population. Based on those facts, this study specifically addresses this Kitakami local population, especially considering its Tono area as the survey area, where crop damage and human accidents have been occurring at a high level every year. This study is intended to accomplish the following.

1. Determine the home range, environmental utilization, etc. of Japanese black bears by: capturing multiple animals; radio-marking and releasing them; and tracing them over a long period. In particular, this study aims to explain the behavior of animals that are presumed to be responsible for damage using GPS transmitters. Routes and times to ranges of appearance in human habitation areas and farmlands will be assessed along with locations of their habitats aside from the times when they do harm in human areas. Furthermore, field vegetation surveys and GIS will examine environmental characteristics of their usual habitats. Fecal analysis and examination of feeding behavior will elucidate their food habits.
2. Clarify the factors that attract bears to human habitation areas by investigating: their appearance; the environment surrounding community woodlands where damage by bears is notable - especially the actual status of mountain forests (tree species, tree density, with or without maintenance, etc.); neighboring farmlands; locations (distance from forest) of farmlands with crops that may attract bears; and the actual situation of crop waste disposal in the woods.
3. Collect traces of feeding on the spot immediately after damage occurrence. In addition, collect traces of saliva that adhere to the feeding area with an aim to identifying responsible animals by DNA analysis. These samples can be compared with DNA that is sampled from animals captured at nearby farmlands, etc. using a drum trap. Thereby, investigations can establish the technology for determining if the captured bear is truly the one responsible for the damage.

The ultimate goal of this study is to accumulate findings that will allow the harmonious coexistence of bears and humans by evaluating the habitats of Japanese black bears, including consideration of damage control methods in areas with frequent damage, by assembling those survey results.

The number of Japanese Golden Eagle is regarded as 518-648 individuals. The reproductive success rate in recent years decreases to about 20%. Then, its population viability is suspected. In the Kitakami Plateau at Iwate Prefecture, more than 30 pairs of Golden Eagles is inhabiting. Also in the area ,the reproductive success rate is remarkably dedreasing. The home range of the Golden Eagle in Japan is 6000ha or more. Therefore, the protection of the Golden Eagle is profitable to manage sustainably a regional ecosystem. In this research, breeding ecology and vegetation selection of the Golden Eagle in the Kitakami Plateau are clarified. And, the vegetation management method for the Golden Eagle and Black bear living in the same region is discussed.
The content of the research is as follows:

1. The vegetation in the home range:The home range of the Golden Eagle which live in the Kitakami Plateau is surveyed. The vegetation in the home range is analyzed from GIS and aerial photograph in the region. Private forest GIS of Iwate Prefecture, the national forest data, and the photograph are matched and the vegetation distribution map is made.
2. Vegetation selection by the Golden eagle:The frequency of the hunting in the home range according to the vegetation is investigated, and vegetation selection for hunting is analyzed. Therefore, the hunting observation data is overlapped with the vegetation distribution map with GIS. The intensity of vegetation selection is obtained by a statistical analysis. The hunting observation data uses collected data in former survey besides new data of this research.
3. The density of prey items in the selected vegetation:The density of prey items which the Golden Eagle hunt in the selected vegetation is investigated. First of all, foods brought to the nest are investigated with a video camera which sets up in the nest. The density of the prey clarified by the video analysis is investigated according to the vegetation.
4. The reproductive success rate and the vegetation:The relation between the reproductive success rate of the Golden Eagle population in the Kitakami Plateau and the area of selected vegetation in the home range is analyzed.
5. The vegetation management method:The vegetation management method for improvement of reproductive success rate of the Golden Eagle is discussed. In that case, the vegetation management is adjusted with the protection of the Black bear living in the same region.
   

On March 30, 2005, the United Nations issued the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report. MA is based on the five-year studies by over 1,300 scientists from 95 countries, showing how much human beings relay on sound and diverse ecosystem services such as clean water, food, and climatic stability. It also indicates that the ecosystem functions supporting life on earth are degrading due to rapid development, and warns "if nothing is changed, sustainable development is unlikely to be done and the goals of human beings including poverty and hunger eradication could never be achieved." The rates of extinction have reached as a thousand-times as those observed in a state of nature, which leads the prediction that 12% of avian species and 25% of mammalian species could become extinct by the end of the 21st century. In addition, the 60% of ecosystem services essential for human survival have already been "unsustainably used." This fact showed that we are no more able to use those services in such a manner currently seen.

In February, 2005, Conservation International (CI) reevaluated biodiversity on a global scale. Based on this, they identified 34 "biodiversity hotspots", regions where urgent and strategic conservation is required, and the Japanese Archipelago is also included in them. Biodiversity hotspots are "the regions rich in biodiversity but threatened by their destruction", which designate the priority regions for conservation.

What is the Japanese natural environment which is rich in biodiversity and should be handed down to the future generations? The Golden Eagle, a large raptor species on a higher trophic level in ecosystems, is proper as an umbrella species, as well as a flagship species due to its deep cultural meaning and high impressiveness. In this study, we focus on the Golden Eagle to answer the question above by understanding and evaluating the status of the habitat environment through knowing the natural history of the eagles.

The Golden Eagle is a species with a concern of extinction because of a rapid decline in its reproductivity on and after 1990s. Although various causes of the reduced reproductiveity are seen, the most important factor is chronic food shortage. This comes from the decrease of their prey animals and hunting fields, or a decline in the proper habitats. In Japan, coppies and thatch fields, which had been essential for people life from time, had been sustainably used and managed just a few decades before. However, the change to the fossil-fuel-dependent lifestyle resulted in the abandon of coppies and their simultaneous conversion to monotonous forests of the Japanese Cypress and Cedar, which aims for timber production rather than fuelwood collection. As a result, closed forests increased due to lack of proper management, and "sustainable relationship between human and mountains" with a thousands-year history has dramatically changed to "unsustainable use" for such a short period of a few decades. Biodiversity is being lost and this seems to affect greatly the Golden Eagle habitats, as MA shows.

We will conduct this study mainly in a known home range of Golden Eagles (approximately 100 km2) in Mt. Ibuki area in Shiga Prefecture, a representative habit of the Golden Eagle in western Japan. Our previous study by VHF telemetory revealed this home range. In this study area, we plan to enhance biological productivity and create hunting fields for the eagles by producing gaps through tree thinning in secondary forests. We will visually observe hunting activities of the eagles (search, detection, chasing-off, and catch of prey) to understand how the eagles use the area as their hunting field. Under the different setting among some different hunting fields, we will conduct a quantitative analysis of prey species including the Japanese Hare by investigating the filed signs and using cameras with a sensor. In addition, we will observe the reproductive status and identify the species and amount of prey brought to the nest during the chick rearing period using remote cameras. As the need arises, we check the nest, and any unhatched eggs and chick carcass recovered will be investigated pathologically to find the cause of death, as well as analyzed to know the accumulation of environmental pollutants such as dioxins.

As the above, we will attempt to enhance the reproductivity by restoring proper forests for the eagles with attention to the potential natural vegetation of the area. Moreover, we will make a specific action plan to maintain the natural environment rich in biodiversity. We also plan to contribute to social activities though collaboration with the local administration such as presentations and field trips dealing with the Golden Eagle, for the constitution of the Ordinance to Conserve Biodiversity, Shiga Prefecture (tentative name).